3-dimensional surfaces that are about the look and feel. Art that puts forward a surface that has unique movement and depth.
There are so many good reasons to collect art, but to me, the most important one is the connection you feel to a particular piece. I know a woman who buys only from female artists because she wants to empower them in their work. Another friend focuses specifically on local painters. Some people look for a particular theme, palette, or style.
I am a big believer in buying what you love, and right now I am into works with lots of texture – a 3-dimensional characteristic. Contemporary artists are doing incredible things by playing with the look and feel of different surfaces, really thinking outside the frame. I can’t seem to get enough of the richness and depth that I’m seeing today.
Here are a few of my current obsessions:
1. Matt Schlian
We just installed Matt Shlian’s “Unholy 298” in a client’s home, and I must tell you that a photo doesn’t do it justice. It is a delicate and beautiful origami dance, undulating and creating new shape and color as you move in front of it. He works with paper, folding and manipulating it into unexpected geometries that are, frankly, unbelievable.
Shlian’s palette also surprises–just when you think your favorite pairing is the spiky sculpture in pastel tones, you see another piece in pristine white or darkest black. And then that becomes lust worthy, too.
2. Paul Fleming
I’ve had the good fortune to work with artist Paul Fleming on a few projects now, including one for a showhouse I did a few years ago. His work always fascinates those who experience it–they are delighted by the shapes, colors, and patterns he is able to create. And the installation itself is its own kind of poetry.
Watching him place each individual piece–and there can be thousands–according to an exact plan of his devising, is something to behold. Each unit is a tiny sculpture in its own right, but together they evoke a range of moods from dynamic energy all the way to a watery, peaceful feeling.
3. Tanya Aguiniga
The term ‘textile art’ likely conjures macrame hanging baskets or hooked rugs, but it has come such a very long way.
Tanya Aguiniga has been commissioned to do pieces for design world heavy hitters that include Lindsey Adelman (a lighting artist in her own right) and Kelly Wearstler. Not surprising, since, among her many accomplishments, she has an MFA in furniture design. But what I find most fascinating about her is the variety of her work–she is truly someone who isn’t afraid to experiment and her pieces all have their own story.
4. Zemer Peled
Sadly, Zemer Peled’s “Under the Arch” is already in the home of another collector, which means I can’t have it, as much as I love it.
She builds her pieces out of thousands of tiny shards of porcelain, evoking elements from the natural world. Her works are different from every angle, so that each experience you have with them is unique. Her Instagram page @zemerpeled shows all of the exquisite detail that goes into her work.
5. Vanessa Barragao
How does Vanessa Barragao get such stunning detail out of yarns and fibers? Part of her secret might be that her grandmothers were knitters, and she grew up watching them work.
An education in fashion made her realize how much waste the industry produces, so she focuses on using recycled materials to create pieces inspired by coral reefs. And looking at them, you can almost feel the waves washing over you as you stand on the ocean floor. Her work is incredibly delicate and beautiful, but it also has a powerful message behind it. One person’s trash is most definitely Barragao’s treasure. And ours.
